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Race To The Moon

From Exhibition: Congress and the War of 1812 I Congress and the War of 1812
Category:
Exploration

In the 1950s the United States and the Soviet Union both began programs for manned and unmanned scientific missions into space. Spurred by the Soviets’ successful 1957 launch of the unmanned Sputnik 1 satellite, Congress initiated the U.S. civilian space program. Winning the space race became a political, scientific, and security priority, intensified after President John F. Kennedy and Congress set a national goal of being first to send an astronaut to the moon.

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.

President John F. Kennedy, “Urgent National Needs” Speech, May 25, 1961

President John F. Kennedy Presents His "Urgent National Needs" Speech to a Joint Session of Congress, May 25, 1961

President John F. Kennedy Presents His "Urgent National Needs" Speech to a Joint Session of Congress, May 25, 1961

Flanked by Vice President and President of the Senate Lyndon B. Johnson (left) and Speaker of the House Samuel T. Rayburn (right), President John F. Kennedy challenged Congress to make a moon landing an urgent national goal.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Apollo 11 Flight Plan, July 16–24, 1969

Apollo 11 Flight Plan, July 16–24, 1969

To reach the moon, Congress funded a series of space missions called the Apollo Program. The crew of Apollo 11 Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.—followed this minute-by-minute timetable to make the first manned moon landing on July 20, 1969.

 

Records of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Archives and Records Administration

 

 
Apollo 11 Mission Commentary, Transcript, July 20, 1969

Apollo 11 Mission Commentary, Transcript, July 20, 1969

Astronauts in the Eagle, the manned module of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Apollo 11 lunar mission, fulfilled the United States’ goal of reaching the moon within a decade. Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. made the landing; Michael Collins piloted the command module that returned the astronauts to Earth on July 24, 1969.

 

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. on the Moon, July 20, 1969

Astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. on the Moon, July 20, 1969

On July 20, 1969, U.S. astronauts Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. and Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. They addressed a joint meeting of Congress two months later.

 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
“Men Land on Moon: 2 Astronauts Avoid Crater, Set Craft on a Rocky Plain,” The New York Times, July 21, 1969

“Men Land on Moon: 2 Astronauts Avoid Crater, Set Craft on a Rocky Plain,” The New York Times, July 21, 1969

The New York Times and other news media around the world celebrated the moon landing of July 20, 1969, reporting on the scientific and technological achievement. The event marked the United States’ lead in the space race, yielded invaluable information about the moon’s surface, and gave impetus to further space exploration.

 

Newspaper and Current Periodical Division, Library of Congress